Thursday, 4 August 2011

WEEKLY COLUMN – WOKING INFORMERNew acquisitions from The Ingram Collection on display in The Lightbox.
A newly acquired artwork from The Ingram Collection is now displayed on the second floor. The Ingram Collection of modern and contemporary British art, on loan to The Lightbox, consists of over 300 pieces and has been assembled over the course of the last decade, with 65 additions in the last 18 months. It represents an exemplary showcase of some of the finest examples of works by British artists, living or working in the country, with particular reference to the post-war period.
The current work, entitled Fallen, is by Olympia Polymeni. Born in Preveza, Greece she moved to London in 2009 to pursue her art, earning an MA in Fine Art from Central St. Martins College in 2010. She currently lives and works in East London.Polymeni’s work deals with female identity and how it is constructed. In art, the female body would be traditionally shown as an object of desire, seen in a decorative context or explored through ‘womanly pastimes’. Polymeni challenges these prevailing ideas by taking a ‘womanly pastime’ and flipping it on its head. Her art is inspired by the tradition of tasseography, the art of fortune-telling using coffee grounds, a tradition still widely practiced in her native Greece.
The artist created a series of large, abstract paintings that evoke curvy female outlines like those made by leftover coffee grounds. The works were created using large pools of gloss paint. Close up, the dried paint creates shiny lumpy blacknesses and amazing ripple like patterns and crinkled textures. The paintings form their own shapes and patterns, quite accidentally, as opposed to the way many artists, (mostly men) have depicted women.Why not come along to The Lightbox and have a look at Olympia Polymeni and other artworks on display from The Ingram Collection. Entrance is Free. The Lightbox, is open Tuesday – Saturday, 10.30am – 5.00pm and Sunday 11.00am – 5.00pm. For more information please visitwww.thelightbox.org.ukor call 01483 737800.